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A video that looks wrong can be frustrating to deal with, because it rarely tells you why it is so. It might be covered in small, weird-shaped speckles, or the video quality might appear to be too blurry. In some cases, the video might be fine, but the media player might be having issues with playback. Usually, it’s not that big of a deal and can be fixed quite easily. This article will help you deal with noise, visual artifacts, and help you understand which fix suits which video problem. We’ll cover different methods, from the most basic methods to improve video quality to more advanced approaches like using denoising tools. Let us get started and fix grainy videos.
Are Grainy and Pixelated Videos the Same?
No, grainy and pixelated videos aren’t the same. They appear similar at times, but both are different issues that occur in video files. Let’s understand the difference between them with this table below.
| Grainy Videos | Pixelated Videos |
|---|---|
| A speckled, noise-like texture that covers the entire video screen. | A mosaic-like texture where individual pixels can be seen in the video. |
| Tiny dots appearing on the video screen, much like static. | Large uneven shaped blocks or grids affecting the video’s visuals. |
| Happens because of high ISO settings, underexposure, or shooting in low light areas. | Happens because of low resolution, very high video compression, or stretching a small video across a very large screen. |
| Fix it by adding more physical lighting, lowering ISO settings, opening the aperture, or using a noise reduction tool. | Shoot or export the video file in HD/4K, set high quality playback settings or use a dedicated quality upscaling tool. |
What Causes Grainy or Pixelated Videos?
To start with, it is essential to know about the root causes of grainy or pixelated videos. Having the right knowledge can also prove to be useful to fix the video not playing issue.
These are the top causes that contribute to making videos grainy or pixelated:
- Shooting videos in low or improper lighting or during night hours.
- Compression of videos, basically, converts a large-sized video into a relatively small size to save storage space.
- Converting to a different video format to save space.
- Shooting videos on a camera that has a small sensor.
- Incorrect camera settings while shooting the videos.
- Shooting videos on low aperture settings since it does not allow the lens to open as much to let the light pass through the camera.
- Shooting videos on high ISO settings, which make the sensor of the camera more reactive to light.
Methods to Fix Grainy or Pixelated Video
Before trying any method to fix grainy videos, understand where the damage originated. Compare the video file with the original recording present at the source. If that copy looks fine, then the problem came later during compression, conversion, transfer, or playback. If the original looks the same, the issue is in the video footage itself. Take a look below on how to fix pixelated video for free.
Method 1. View the Video in its Original Resolution
If the video file looks pixelated or grainy after being enlarged or stretched to fit in a screen, try viewing the video file in its original resolution or in a smaller resolution. Enlarging a video that already had low resolution can make the pixelation even worse and the blocky edges even more noticeable. Open the video file in a media player and reset the zoom to its default settings, if available. Don’t try to stretch the video past its original dimensions to fit in a screen.
Remember, this only changes the display of the video file, not its original quality. If the video file isn’t of high quality, then playing it in its original resolution won’t make much of a difference.
Method 2. Retrieve from Backup Files
It is rightly said, “precaution is better than cure.” In this situation, backup video files prove to be the best precautionary measure only if you have taken a proper backup of the videos. If the video has become heavily pixelated or grainy, you can always retrieve the original video from the backup and enjoy the viewing experience.
Method 3. Try Playing Video in Another Media Player
Your video might be looking distorted or might display a black screen in one media player but play fine in another. This usually happens because of differing codecs, playback compatibility, or decoding settings. If the video looks fine in another player, the problem lies with the original player’s playback settings or decoding settings. If the video doesn’t play in another media player either, the video footage itself might have issues. Changing the media player won’t help you solve this issue, but it will help you identify if the problem lies with playback or with the video itself.
Method 4. Check for Corruption to Fix Grainy Videos or Pixelation
If any of the above methods do not fix the grainy or pixelated videos, you should check for corruption once. Issues like graininess or pixelation in videos can surface because of video corruption. To resolve this issue, a trusted Video Repair software can help in this case. The software can repair any video file format which is corrupt, inaccessible, or damaged. Kernel Video Repair is one such utility that can easily fix any type of video files without any particular size restriction. Most importantly, it does not affect the video quality and keeps the original quality intact.
Conclusion
Grainy or pixelated videos are the result of shooting in low light, high ISO settings, low aperture settings, and a small sensor of the camera. However, even after the shooting process, the video can get grainy due to compression on the video file. Fortunately, these issues can be resolved easily by using the above ways. Follow the instructions and find out why you’re facing this error and apply the right method to fix your video quality. For added convenience, we advise you to opt for the recommended video repair tool to fix grainy videos.
Common Questions About Grainy or Pixelated Videos
A. You can either try desktop-based editors like DaVinci Resolve or use apps like CapCut to sharpen the video. Make sure that you do make changes on a copy file, not the original video file.
A. Many social media platforms like YouTube or Instagram re-encode the video files to save bandwidth. This can ruin the video quality if the compression is too high.
A. Make sure that you always shoot videos in proper lighting, the ISO setting is low, camera lens is cleaned, and you always use highest resolution and bitrate to shoot videos.
A. Graininess in videos is caused by low-light settings or high ISO camera settings. Pixelation, on the other hand, is caused by aggressive compression or low video resolution.
A. Yes, editing a video file again and again can lead to loss of important details and appearance of visual artifacts. Make sure that you only edit video copies, not the original source video file.
